This is my experience working in an orphanage and children's hospital in Iasi, Romania for the summer of 2008.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Trip to Brashov

May 8, 2008 (Thursday)

Today was a very leisure day. We all woke up whenever we wanted and took our time getting ready. Some of the girls took showers and some of them haven’t taken showers for a couple of days. Whatever works for them - haha. I’m still not quite to that point yet, but the girls keep saying I’ll get there…after all we have no one to impress – but I love them even if they smell haha…we just joke and tease about their lack of hygiene. I love those girls!

Then after that we all got ready and decided to roam around Brashov. We went to the town square and looked around the little shops. We also visited one of the narrowest streets in Europe – you could reach both sides of the walls that lined the street. Kind of crazy. Then we ate pizza outside at a little pizza shop. None of the pizza had sauce on it. It’s so interesting all the little but noticeable differences in different cultures. It was still good though. Then after we were almost done eating a girl came up and asked us for food – we gave her a leftover slice of pizza we had. Then we gave the rest of it to some little kids playing in the street. Children are not shy in Europe – they aren’t scared of strangers and they aren’t afraid to ask you for things. Maybe kidnapping isn’t a problem here…

When we went shopping me and the other girls saw a good deal on a light plain colored jacket so we decided to get them. I went to use my credit card and apparently in Europe they don’t know how to run just credit cards. She kept asking for a pin number and only my debit card had a pin number – so Elisa had to go and withdraw money from an ATM and pay for all of them – then we just paid her back. It was so weird. Elisa said only certain workers know how to properly run American credit cards. She said she had run into the same problem in the past. So note to self don’t go to Europe with just a credit card – you will run into problems if the cashier doesn’t know how to run the card right, and they probably don’t.

On our way home we stopped at a church located near our hostile. All the churches are so old and beautiful. When we walked in there was a guy in a black outfit who was selling little trinkets inside the church – he must have been a priest or something. Then a really really old drunk man came in and started talking to us. He wore an old worn out suit, he smelled bad and you could tell he wasn’t all the way coherent but he tried to make conversation with us nevertheless. Immediately after the old man started talking to us the priest guy hit him hard on the head with a book. We had no idea what the old guy said – but the priest gave him a pretty good hit. We all just kind of stood there awkwardly. Then as we were leaving the church the old man followed and the priest guy hit him with a broom in the rear on the way out. The priest practically knocked his legs out from under him. I don’t know if he was upset because he said something disrespectful in the church, or to us, or because he was drunk. People are much harsher here. I don’t think you’d ever see a bishop hitting someone with a broom as they walked out of church, and if you did that would definitely be a funny site. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Who knows.

After we walked out of the church the old man continued to talk to us and bade usto follow him to the cemetery located directly next to the church. He took us to a grave of some family members. He had a candle that he wanted to put in a little lantern on the headstone, but he realized he didn’t have a lighter and began to weep. We went and got him a lighter and listened to him for a bit. From what we could understand from his motions and body language his brothers had been killed with a gun or something like that – maybe in war? He cried and we all just listened to him and felt bad for him. The poor guy – it looked like he just wandered the streets drunken missing the dead ones he loved without any hope of seeing them again. Once again I am grateful for this church – although it is never fun for people to die that we love at least we know we will see them again. That alone is enough to make a person have joy in their life. Families are eternal – such an amazing concept!

After that we decided to make our way home and contemplate whether or not we were going to hike up to the Brashov sign located on the mountain. The sign looks exactly like the Hollywood sign in the states except it says Brashov. It was starting to get really cold outside and it looked like it was going to rain so five of the girls decided to stay in the hostel and four of us decided to make the hike. I decided to go and get some fresh air and exercise. At the beginning of the hike we had a little surprise – Mary and I were walking behind Elisa and Melissa and all of a sudden Elisa said in a serious tone “don’t look back, I mean it.” Mary and I were so confused so we just kept walking and we didn’t turn around. After a second we were like “what is going on? What happened?” Apparently some guy in the bushes along the trail made a noise that Elisa and Melissa had both heard (Mary and I hadn’t for some reason) and they turned and he exposed himself. Apparently he was doing more than that, but they didn’t tell us what…I’m glad for that. Soo disgusting. I don’t understand how or why someone would do that. There are some sick people in this world.

After we recovered from the incident we had a nice hike. We talked about favorite movies and actors and about our families. It wasn’t the prettiest day in the world, but the trees were green and the air was nice and fresh. The hike was about an hour up and an hour down and once we got to the top it was all worth it. The view was amazing! It really looked like hundreds of houses from the movie Beauty and the Beast. It was quite the site….

After the hike we decided that we deserved a treat and we got gelato ice cream. It was quite expensive but boy was it amazing. I got a caramel flavor that was to die for! We don’t have ice cream that tastes that amazing in the states. I’ve decided that it is always so sad when you eat something and you know that you will never taste anything better than that ever again. I mean how many times am I going to go to Romania – probably not many…I heard the gelato is even better in Italy. I can’t wait to try it when we go at the end of the summer.

Once we got home we packed our bags and got ready for the train ride that left at 11:00 p.m. that night. It was an overnight train, and I was ready for a terrible night sleep. I am such a light sleeper so I figured I would be quite miserable. Anyways, we made our way to the bus stop that was going to take us to the train station. The bus never ended up coming so we ran back to the hostel to ask someone to take us to the station and he wasn’t there so we quickly called a taxi. We were all afraid we were going to miss the train. Once we got to the train station we didn’t know where we were supposed to go so we all went into panic mode – we would have been in big trouble if we missed our train and there didn’t seem to be anyone around who could be of help. However, we ended up finding the right car – train stations can be quite confusing!

As if the night hadn’t been quite stressful enough we almost got kicked off the train. Half an hour after the train left the station a short, fat, stalky ticket guy came to verify our tickets to make sure that everyone was legitimately supposed to be on the train. We all pulled out our tickets and he started speaking really fast in Romanian – apparently something was wrong with our tickets. There is something quite scary and unsettling about a large, cranky, Romanian ticket collector in a suit that is too small for his body. Anyways, he kept insisting that something was wrong with our ticket – that we were missing some information that he needed, but we didn’t know what. After a couple minutes of us bantering back and forth Elisa went and got a lady who she heard speaking English earlier when we first got on the train. Earlier this particular lady had helped us tell a teenage boy that was sitting in our seats that he was in the wrong train car. Elisa ended up finding her again after going through several compartments of seats, and the lady came over to speak to the ticket collector. She began to translate for us. Apparently when you get a round ticket on a train and are on the returning ride you have to show the conductor the ticket that was from the first leg of the round ticket along with the ticket for the ride to return home. Kind of confusing. In the states you don’t need to do show the ticket from the first leg of a round trip on your return flight. Anyways, 7 of the 9 of us managed to find the ticket from the first leg of the train ride which was a miracle. Thank goodness I like to scrapbook – otherwise I would have thrown the ticket stub away the second I got off the train in Brashov. However, Elisa and Whitney Scott couldn’t find theirs and the train conductor insisted on having it. Throughout the translated conversation he said that Elisa and Whitney had to pay for another ticket that would cost them about 250 lei. He was a complete jerk – it was obvious that they were with us and that they had paid for the train, but he just wanted to be a rear. Anyways, the lady who was translating for us did everything she could to talk with him, but it was no use. She told us that she even tried bribing him, but it didn’t work. Apparently bribery is something that is common in European countries. Something else new to me. Not a surprise. The ticket collector was so creepy. At one point when they were talking he touched the scarf around her neck implying that he wanted something from her. SICK! Elyse and I were about to pounce on him if he tried anything. Although the lady couldn’t get him to give us a break she was so helpful – it was a blessing that she was there. We probably would have been kicked off the train in the middle of the night otherwise. The Lord watches out for us in the most seemingly insignificant ways and thank goodness he does. By the end of the scenario Elisa and Whitney ended up paying for another ticket, and we were all ticked about it. Elisa called him a jerk right in front of his face but he didn’t understand English so he had no idea which was kind of funny….what a bumb.After that we all made our seats recline and we made a giant bed in our compartment and turned out the lights. I took a sleeping pill so I would get a decent night rest and it worked relatively well…

May 7, 2008 (Wednesday)

Today we went to Dracula’s castle (AKA Bran castle) and we also went to see a palace called Peles. Before we got ready to go I took a shower in the hostel – which had no shower curtain or doors which was quite uncomfortable. Plus very few of the windows in the house/hostel had curtains. Nice. Anyways, as I got out of the shower and put my shirt on a spider the size of a quarter was on my chest. I screamed and freaked out. It was a great start to my day.We left early to go see Dracula’s castle - which was beautiful but quite simple and up on a hill overlooking the town below. It was predominantly made of wood and stone, and the outside was surrounded by trees of green. Apparently “Dracula’s” real name was Vlad the impaler and the Romanian people actually really liked him. They view him as a strong and just ruler. Apparently he was just a harsh punisher who would kill those who broke the law by impaling them in some fashion, they would bleed to death and then he would put the person out on display for all to see as an example. Only those who didn’t like him called him Dracula. Our tourist said “drac” means devil which is why some people called him that.The other castle was named Peles. It is one of the prettiest palaces in Romania. It was ridiculously ornate and gorgeous with tons of historical background and history. I wish I understood the history better so it meant more, but it was still incredible. It was so detailed and ornate that it would take hours just to look at everything in one room. There were paintings, wood work, art work and sculptures everywhere. It was so grand, and there were secret passageways. I wanted to play hide and seek in it soo bad…During our adventure one of the girls in my Romanian group named Elyse passed out…so that was interesting. Poor thing. Apparently that has happened to her before. She ended up being okay. We all teased her that at least she passed out in a cool place. I got part of it on video tape. It will be a good laugh for her later.After we visited the palaces we dropped by a monastery. I don’t exactly understand what they are – but I’m going to do a bit more research on them. It was pretty, and there were antique paintings of Saints lining the walls everywhere. Then a huge crowd of old men and women walked up to the monastery. I guess they were going to worship or something. The little old men and women are adorable here. I don’t know why they seem cuter in Europe than they do in the states, but all us girls eww and aww whenever we see little old people here.After our adventures we went and ate at Bella Musica. It was so good and it had the nicest restrooms. In Europe restrooms are quite hard to find so when you find a clean one with a toilet that flushes it is quite exciting. All us girls were talking about how we never wanted to leave because the restrooms were so amazing. At the restaurant the waiter brought out complementary shots of brandy for us all…we felt bad telling him that we didn’t drink. Apparently they will do that to be nice every once in a while – give complimentary drinks.When we were finished we heard loud music and saw a large crowd so we decided to go see what was going on. In the town square there were a bunch of performers from children to adults. Everyone was having a blast dancing and moving around. We started jumping around and imitating the dancers. We had too much fun…there were a bunch of shops around and we just had fun being in one another’s company – dancing and laughing. As we were sitting there I looked over and saw an older missionary couple in the crowd. I got so excited, so I told the other girls and we went over and said hi. It was so nice to see them – something familiar in a place so foreign to us. Pretty soon more older missionary couples came and we chatted with them all. I hope I get to serve a mission with my future husband. They were all so cute – they just glowed. That has to be the most amazing experience ever to have with your husband…be together sharing the gospel. So fun.After the festivities we went back to our hostel and chatted with a bunch of guys who were staying in the hostels and traveling. Some of them have been traveling for like a year. I don’t know how they get by! I love traveling but even after a few days of moving around so much I get worn out. Plus I have no idea how they make the money to survive. They told us about their adventures, and I asked them all what their country thought of Americans. They said that they didn’t hate Americans, but that Americans were loud and boisterous and sometimes arrogant. One large difference between Americans and people of other countries that I have noticed is that when you are walking down the street in America you constantly see people smiling, laughing and having a good time. Americans are enthusiastic about life and enjoy the freedoms they have. In other countries everyone walks around with a solemn look on their face, their eyes downward and they hold a stern straight face. It’s like they have no hope. So depressing. I remember before we came in our prep course we were told to be quiet on the street and to not talk or laugh to loud because we would draw attention to ourselves. I’m still not very good at keeping my mouth quiet – but I’m trying. We are so blessed to live in the United States. I don’t think we realize how lucky we are. When I was talking with a guy from Germany about it he said that I needed to remember that other countries come from a depressing past where the weight of tyrannical leadership consumed their history and therefore their lives. He said that was a lot for people to carry. I never thought about that before. That would be a hard weight to bear. We are so lucky to be a citizen in the United States. We have hope for the future, a past that lead us to freedom to choose, and we have leaders that have ruled more justly than any other nation. God has truly blessed America. Whenever people ask me I can honestly and truthfully say with pride “I’m an American.” People complain about our nation – they should try visiting other countries where you don’t pass by a dumpster without seeing someone going through it. America isn’t perfect, but it sure is grand in comparison to other nations. Even people of other nations recognize the grandeur of America. Whenever we tell people we are American their eyes light up…it’s crazy.May 6, 2008 (Tuesday)

This morning we left for a short trip to go see Dracula’s castle located next to the city of Brashov in Transylvania. It was my first train ride and it was nine hours. To be honest I was not looking forward to sitting for that long. However, the ride ended up being amazing. When the train ride first started it was pretty, flat, and green land. It was pretty view, but nothing too scenic to keep our interest so all us girls chatted about life and other random things. It’s amazing what girls talk about when we get together. We talked about some near death experiences we’ve had, what we were like in high school and other random events in our lives. I love the girls in my group! So much fun. We had a blast just laughing and chatting as we watched the countryside go by out our window.As we got closer to Brashov the countryside changed and so did the style of houses. Apparently the area was settled by Germans and Hungarians. Little villages were everywhere. I felt like I was in a scene from Beauty and the Beast. People really live in houses that look like that! It’s crazy….The landscape also changed. I’ve never seen mountains more beautiful in my life. I took a video of it, but I know it won’t do them justice. The mountains were enormous and looked soft, luscious and smooth. It sounds corny but I wish I could of melted and slid down the side of them. They were the most gorgeous mountains my eyes have ever beheld. There is no other way to explain them. It looked like someone dyed every inch of every mountain in a deep, green color. All us girls kept sticking our heads out the window and breathing in the fresh air and waving at the people as we zoomed by. I felt like I was in a dream world. It was crazy I saw people driving in cars, and then I would see a horse and buggy pulling a family. I didn’t know people still got around like that! Most of the people I saw were outside plowing their yard with a horse or herding sheep. There were hundreds of miles of people in small German style houses with long narrow yards. Little men and little women lined the land wearing little European hats. So cute! I forgot that such a simple life like theirs existed. Sometimes I wonder if we are worse off with all the luxuries and technological advances that exist. Looking out I couldn’t help but want to be a part of their world. At least for a little bit. Just being on the train and looking at the landscape helped me forget any problems or concerns I have had. I stared out the window mesmerized for hours. I haven’t done anything that relaxing for quite a while. God sure does paint well in Romania!Throughout the train ride an older Romanian gentleman who was a little drunk named Nicoli kept talking to us in Romanian. It didn’t matter how many times we told him that we didn’t speak Romanian he still seemed to tell us his entire life story. We picked up bits and pieces. He was hilarious though. He was from Brashov and everything was “foarte frumos” which means “very beautiful.” Poor, old, drunk man.After the train ride we went to our hostel which was the first one I have ever been it. It was small and quaint. There were multiple rooms filled with bunk beds where random backpackers stayed. All of us girls took up one room so that was nice to have some privacy to ourselves. It was kind of weird to have random guys living in close quarters – but I felt safe with all the girls.Then we went and ate at “Café Romeanasca.” The food wasn’t amazing, but I loved the atmosphere. The restaurants in Brashov were cheap but the atmosphere was really nice which made it fun.When we got back to the hostel we got ready for bed which was quite the experience. The bathrooms were community style and the sink ended up getting clogged after we had all spit out toothpaste into the sink. So then we then had to take turns washing our face in the shower because of the clogged sink. The shower head detached so we just held it for one other. After we were about to leave someone’s toothbrush fell into the clogged sink….so disgusting! It was full of water and about six girls toothpaste spit. We all started cracking up. I thought it was my toothbrush, and I almost had a mild heart attack – but then I realized it wasn’t mine so I was okay. There would have been no way I was going down into the spit water to get it. We had no idea whose it was…sick is all I have to say. It must have been some other random person’s toothbrush who was staying in the hostel. I guess we’ll never know…hopefully whoever’s it was never ended up using it…haha…GROSS.

My Final Goodbye to Andrei...

This is how Andrei decided to pose for our final picture together...haha...my little monkey.

Last day with Andrei...

Right after I said goodbye to Andrei...these were the gifts I left with him.

The Branch!

Around the Orphanage!

Alex's Birthday party!

Andrei, Cristi and Andrea...my little orphan angels...

Sitting outside with Maria in my lap and the other girls and their kiddos...

Alex swimming on his back...

The Light of my LIFE! My ANDREI!

tickle...tickle...

Classic Andrei pose...such a little stinker...

Can't Get Enough of the Babes in the Hospital!

A little bit of heaven...

The most gorgeous eyelashes you've ever seen...

I'm in love...

This is the little baby that would copy my laugh every time I laughed... such a cutie!

The Black Sea Adventure

I'm pretty sure this is the best picture we took on the trip...

Mindy and I...

Whitney S. and I laying out...

The GANG!

Burying Kenz...

Elyse carrying the umbrella on the way to the beach...

Right before the banana boat ride!

Putting our gear on for the Banana Boat ride!

No turning back...

We are off...

Burying Mindy...

Hospital Fun!

Mihai! Our little angel.

Yes there is some pink in my hair...

The poor thing did not feel well at all.

Kristi! One of our kids at the orphanage with cerebral palsy. He had to go to the hospital for some treatments.

Andreiseni...A Little Bit of Heaven on Earth

Time for bed!

Sleeping under the stars...

We love horses oh yes we do!

Our little cup of honey to eat from the bee man.

MacKenzie's belly after our fifth feeding...we all felt that way...

Any more food anyone?

The old man who sat across from us at the ceremony...he was adorable.

Flowers we were given by one of the families.

We're about to be fed...again...

All the houses have grapevines that line the ceiling when you go to enter their homes...

The librarian who kept giving us gifts!

I caught a baby duck! I was so excited!

The family that grows vegetables in the town.

The beauty of the lake...

The bee man!

One of the houses we dropped by. We were warmly welcomed.

Andrei and his foster mom.

The Monasteries...

Our professor Dave came for a visit. We tried to pick him up for a cool picture. It didn't work.

The beauty...

GORGEOUS

A reservation we stopped by...I shared my apple with a baby deer.

Mario our Romanian Liason. She is great!

Annie's 20th Birthday!

Under the pavillion...

Annie holding the necklace I got her from Krakow...

The most disturbing display of dead goats in the park we have ever seen...it was sick...only in Romania.

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Our jumping picture...good times...

Whitney S. and I hit legs while we were jumping...

The pyramid...

Reenacting Annie's Drawing!

I was trying to make sure their poses were just right...

This was the black and white picture we took in order to reenact the drawing Annie drew...

Color version....

Our Birthday Girl!

Whitney S.

An amazing pic of Mindy...haha...I love it!

JULY 4th! I'm PROUD to be an AMERICAN!

The gang...

My roomies...we're all dressed in red, white and blue!

Picnic time...

Balloon Toss!

I just got a piece of ice down Annie's pants...haha...poor thing...

MacKenzie just got ice down my pants...

Water fun...good times..

This is the face of Elder Armstrong who just had a bag of ice water thrown on him...

Good times at the Hospital!

I put a fake tatoo on Marius...

We couldn't get her bed side to go down all the way - so I jumped in and played with Alexandra - she recently had another surgery...

Auschwitz and the Holocaust...

Entrance to Auschwitz...we didn't take pics inside out of respect for those who died...

Birkenau...a few miles away from Auschwitz...

Housing...if you could call it that...

Drawing done by children in one of the blocks...

Each block had line after line of this type of bedding...each slot fit four to five people to a bed...

The restrooms in each block...

Pond memorial where the ashes were put after the bodies were burned...

Rubble of the crematorium that was blown up by the Nazis to cover up any evidence of their wrong doings...

Krakow, Poland

We had fun building a pyramid in the courtyard of the Wawel Castle...

Medieval Square!

Our sillly side...

We kept getting lost...but we always found our way!

Feeding the birds in Medieval Square...

My blue bike with a horn! I love that little horn...

Can't tell it's a rental bike huh?....

A little rest from bike riding!

We decided to rent bikes for a few hours and ride around Poland...so fun...

We love our ice cream soo...

Running around...

The girls...

A giant head in Medieval Square...

Whitney Scott decided we each needed an individual photo shoot along the Wawel Castle wall...

My FAVORITE CITY! BUDAPEST...

Yes this picture is real...

So gorgeous it takes your breath away...

Parliament Building! GORGEOUS!

We love chocolate crepes oh yes we do!

Monument to Hungarian Jews that died in the Holocaust...

Ironically I ran into Truman Hunt (CEO of Nu Skin) and Scott Schwerdt (President of Americas and Europe at Nu Skin) when I went to church in Budapest...For those of you who don't know I worked at Nu Skin for over a year, and I was treated very well by the company....What a small world.

Shopping on the bridge...sooooo fun!

On our way home...wornout and sunburned...

The most gorgeous waterfall ever...outside the castle...

The city I love!

Heros' circle...

The castle...

Try saying this word five times fast...haha...

Good ol' sleeper trains...

Largest Jewish synagogue in Europe...

We're soo crazy...

Even on vacation church is a good thing to attend...

SCABIES!!!!!!!!

The night we found out we had scabies we had to take a shower, put the ointment on, then sleep in our outfit that we were wearing the next day...then we had to do it all over again the next day...DANG SCABIES...

Annie and I had fun being dramatic in this picture...

Cream to the rescue!

The Hospital...

Marion....can you say adorable!

Marius giving me a kiss on the cheek after a rough game of arm wrestling...

My Orange Hair...

I was feeling a bit nervous...if only I knew what the outcome was going to be...

This was my hair right after I dyed it...it has now faded (thank goodness) back to a golden blonde...yes - everyone have a good laugh...P.S. Mom I need you to set me up a hair appointment for the day I get home...thank you.

Marion's Funeral...

Picnic with the Priest and Mayor

I felt like I was in a fairy tale!

The priest...

The mayor (left) and a friend (right)...

Oh my Claudio!

My Claudio laughing!

Kenz and I at the hospital...

Dinner with the Moldova Boys

The Hospital

Florine our little trickster...

Alexandra...so adorable! She has been in the hospital for months. She has had several surgeries on her feet.

The gang on the 6th floor...

Claudio...the lost little boy on the 7th floor...

Our little Marion from the orphanage...he needs a kidney transplant desperately or he won't make it...

The lovely hospital floors...

Melissa's Birthday!

This is my favorite pic of Melissa...haha...

Picnic Time!

After a long game of Ultimate Frisbee...

Elyse and Mindy...oh the joy.

My friend Sera and I.

I hand sewed this skirt and wore it to church! I was soooo proud of myself!

Annie made a skirt too...we had to take a pic...

Night on the town....

Mamma Mia Steak House

A bunch of people were handing out flowers in an effort to get final votes for some politician...we didn't vote, but we did have fun with the flowers!

The Hospital...continued

Poor thing had the worst fever...

Alexandra and Roxanna...two sisters...so full of energy and love!

Samson...this little boy cries all day for his mom...

Florine our little flirt...he went back home Friday...he will be dearly missed!

My Little Orphan Kids!

MY ANDREI!

Valentina my little vampire...

Maria...she is always full of surprises!

Iulia...

Constantine...

Irina...

Church

Church and our fellow Relief Society Members!

My Roomies!

SCARY!

This is written all over in our apartment building...guys aren't real respectful of women here.

More Babies!

We found more babies without moms to love...they were hiding from us on a floor we never go to...

He kept falling asleep while I was feeding him...

Annie was blowing on the babies neck...there is NO air conditioning in the hospital and they bundle the kids up. Everytime we pick them up they are drenched in sweat...poor things!

THE HOSPITAL

My sweetheart...the poor thing is a boy, and they dressed him in pink.

Poor thing...everytime he coughs her entire face turns purple.

Our little Octavian!

MacKenzie tried asking the nurse this orphans name and they said "he's an orphan he doesn't have one..." We decided this was too sad so we named him Octavian.

This baby was a newborn orphan. So tiny...The poor thing is having heart surgery soon...

I was blowing on her stomach...she got a kick out of it!

Our little angel...except we call her grumpy because sometimes she doesn't like to smile - but when she does she lights up the room!

Florine and I...he's such a little ladies man!

Countryside of Romania

City of Brashov

Brashov

Mindy and I in the town square of Brashov!

At the Hostel!

Mindy got the bottom bunk, and I got the top...so fun!

The ENTIRE gang at the hostel...

We love each other!

Peles Castle

Can you say GORGEOUS?

I look like I'm in pain...

Dracula's Castle

Part of the gang!

Vlad the Impaler's Castle

The Cemetery and the Old Man

The old man...

The PIATA...it's like an underground market place where everyone brings their fresh fruit and vegetables to sell...it's our favorite place to go so far.

THE CITY OF IASI

View Outside Our Window...

Although you don't see a lot of grass in the city...you can tell it's very green here...I can't wait to see the country side!!

These are the apartments in Iasi...buildings like these cover the city...

A gypsy girl came up and asked us for a banana for her baby brother...we gave one to her - but you have to be careful because more will come and beg you for food.

A gypsy family...you see them walking around sometimes...however, they are discriminated against by the Romanians greatly.

Us girls needed some CHOCOLATE...gogosi is amazing here...it's like an inverted donut. We can't eat too much of these though or we are going to come back weighing a thousand pounds.

Cultural Palace continued...

The Cultural Palace...just down the street from where we live...absolutely gorgeous!

The city wasn't designed to have parking spots...so cars park everywhere...including the sidewalks. The drivers are a little crazy. They don't really follow the the driving laws - then again maybe they don't have any?

The rain loves us!

Embrace the RAIN!

Water in my shoe after the first Sunday...nice...

The Last GIRLS' Night!

Aunt Courtney and me....isn't she simply radiant!

My Mom and Aunt Ariane...but she's like my sister...

The COUNTDOWN begins...

My Attempt to Pack...

I think I need to reorganize...or cut back on the amount of clothes I'm taking...

Such a homemaker...these scrubs will be my best friend in Romania!

Toys for the children!

Whitney's Favorite Quotes

"No individual has the right to come into the world or go out of it, without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it." - George Washington Carver

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ~

"The only things in life you regret, are the risks you didn't take."

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank